Healthy Haven.

In this part of the world, I believe only a small percentage of the people care about having a healthy environment, and I concluded this because of our actions towards it. A lot of people today do not hesitate to cut down trees at every given opportunity. We dispose our waste carelessly, clogging drainages and causing air pollution, yet we pretend to want a healthy environment.

This pretense frustrates me deeply, as I am always concerned about my environment because it influences so many things about me. My mental and physical health are strongly influenced by my environment, and it’s one of the reasons I put effort in taking care of wherever I find myself.

It’s sad that not everyone will put the same effort into making the environment healthy, so achieving the result you want is always tough. This was one of the challenges I encountered at my previous place, and as much as I tried to avoid the same issue at my new residence, it was almost impossible. The lack of shared commitment made it feel strenuous to maintain a clean and safe space.

A few months ago, when I was hunting for an apartment, it was a tough situation finding an environment close to healthy in the city where I live. I wasn’t looking for a perfect place really, I only wanted somewhere safe, free from all sorts of pollution, and a place where nature thrives. It was challenging finding just one place that ticked all these boxes because people focus more on building beautiful houses than building a healthy environment.

This mentality is so terrible to the point that we now misunderstand healthy for expensive, which is very wrong. Expensive and healthy are two different things when it comes to describing the qualities of an environment.

This misunderstanding has birth so many overrated environment in Lagos and yet, people consider them healthy just because of the architectural designs of the house into those environments. They turn a blind eyes to the pollution, insecurity and others.

In response to the HL prompt, a healthy environment for me shouldn’t be difficult to find, but the reality is different.

A healthy environment should be somewhere CLEAN, free from any kind of waste. I do say that having a clean environment can only be achieved by collective effort, which barely happens because people aren’t ready to contribute. So many are still fond of disposing waste the wrong way and when this waste builds up, it leads to POLLUTION, another thing that shouldn’t exist in a healthy environment.

There are different types of pollution, and none should be considered fair or acceptable. Here and in many past of Lagos, we struggle with air and noise pollution. Sadly, there is nothing we can do about these things because it's beyond what just a person can change.

Equally important, a healthy environment must be safe and secured, as this is attached to the physical and mental well-being of people living in that environment.

When safety becomes an issue, there is no peace for residents. In the absence of safety, it would be difficult for residents to go about their daily life with a balanced mind. I have lived in an environment where safety was zero, and almost every resident in that environment had cutlasses at home. We were always prepared for the worst on different days, which was mentally draining.

Finally, a healthy environment must give room for nature to thrive, and everything happening there must be eco-friendly. Despite my concerns about my current environment, the fact that nature thrives here makes me happy. There are trees, and I don’t get tired of hearing the sweet voices of birds around me. It’s a beautiful sight seeing nature flourish around me because it helps me mentally.

It is one of my biggest wish that more people value this collective responsibility for a clean, safe, and natural environment.

_{All Image Are Mine.}